Agents find nearly $1.6M in marijuana, arrest 4

U.S. Border Patrol agents found more than 1,800 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of about $1.5 million in this Ford F-250 pickup near Lordsburg, N.M., on Wednesday.(Photo: Courtesy U.S. Border Patrol)

Four men suspected of drug smuggling were arrested near El Paso this week in two unrelated busts, with Border Patrol agents seizing more than $1.5 million in marijuana.

Border Patrol agents working near Lordsburg, N.M., at about 4 p.m. Wednesday were alerted to possible illicit activity by motion sensors in the area, officials said in a news release Friday. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations were called in to assist.

After a brief search, agents located a Ford F-250 pickup heading north on Country Road 1 when the suspects turned the truck around and attempted to make their way back to Mexico, officials said. Agents then used a tire deflation device to disable the vehicle. Two men in the truck attempted to flee on foot but were soon caught.

Agents found more than 1,800 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of about $1.5 million, according to the news release.

The men, identified as Jose Vara Perez and Jesus Salcedo Ramirez, both citizens of Mexico, were transported to the Lordsburg Border Patrol Station for processing. The Drug Enforcement Administration took custody of the men and the marijuana.

In another incident early Tuesday morning, Border Patrol agents observed two men carrying large backpacks just west of the Tornillo Port of Entry, officials said. Agents on all-terrain vehicles and bicycles tracked the suspects through the terrain and found them hiding in the desert brush.

Agents arrested 36-year-old Jorge Arturo Rodriguez Rodriguez and 31-year-old Felix Cecilio Rodriguez Rodriguez, both from Mexico. The men were turned over to the DEA, officials said.

In that case, agents seized 115 pounds of marijuana valued at $92,000, according to the news release.